Why are the White-fronted Goose (Specklebelly)Hunting Regulations More Restrictive

in this Special Management Area?

are a larger proportion of the white-fronted goose population in the special management area. The area was created in 1975 to eliminate the harvest of thethen-endangered Aleutian Canada goose. Cackling Canada geese and Pacific white-fronted geese were included when both populations were at record low levels. Because of the small population of Tule geese, restrictive hunting regulations continue to be necessary.

The delayed opening date, lower bag limit, and mid-December closure are intended to reduce the harvest of Tule Greater White-fronted Geese. The Tule goose population is small in size and is concentrated in winter in the western Sacramento Valley -especially the Sacramento, Delevan, and Colusa NWRs. By mid-December, Tule geese

How are Tule whitefronts different?Tules are one of two white-fronted goose subspecies that winter in California. Tule geese breed in the upper Cook Inlet Basin of Alaska and number only 7,000-10,000 birds.Pacific whitefronts breed in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region of Alaska. Their population has rebounded from less than 100,000 in 1980 to over 600,000 birds.

Tules tend to be much larger than Pacifics; adult Tules have less speckling on their breast and are darker in color, especially on the head and neck. Measurements are needed to distinguish the two subspecies.

Please Allow Us to Measure theWhite-Fronted Geese You Harvest. Good Information on Tule Geese is Important to the Continued Hunting of White-Fronted

Geese in the Sacramento Valley.

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Adult Tule White-fronted gooseAdult Pacific White-fronted goose